Bellows Falls, VT – August 20, 1875

On August 20, 1875, a man identified as “Professor Bristol” an aeronaut with “Cole’s Circus” was in a balloon 1,000 feet above Bellows Falls, when a current of cold air running along the Connecticut River caught the craft and caused it to rapidly descend towards the water. Just as the balloon was about to hit the water above the falls, the breeze blew it a little towards shore, which gave Professor Bristol the chance to jump clear and make it to safety. No sooner had he done so, the balloon touched down and went over the falls where it was wrecked.